This easy recipe for very old-fashioned-sounding cookies comes from the lone vegan cookbook on the shelves at the otherwise exhaustively stocked kitchen store, Gygi, in Salt Lake City. A typical trip there goes something like this: go to pick up only a package of parchment paper sheets and – - leave, pushing a shopping cart with aforementioned parchment (in two sizes) several small pieces of china that were “on sale,” plastic lids for half-sheet baking pans, an elf-sized spatula perfect for prying recalcitrant brownies out of pans, colorful paper muffin cups and yet another set of measuring spoons. Will it be long before I enter Gygi and a la Norm at Cheers I am greeted with a hearty shout of “Annie!!”?
Oh right, the cookbook. It’s called The 100 Best Vegan Baking Recipes, by Kris Holechek. A very nice collection of recipes; we’ll be spending a lot of time together. Per my usual method, I used predominantly whole wheat flour, halved the sugar, halved the fat and added nuts.
One last very important thing: thank you again to all of you who have reached out to offer support, condolences, love and wisdom over the past weeks. Your heartfelt words have warmed and comforted me.
Apple Butter Cookies
Makes ~ 2 dozen
1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. powdered stevia
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup vegan butter, softened
1/2 very ripe banana, mashed
1/4 cup maple sugar
3/4 cup apple butter (I used R.W. Knudsen’s organic which has no added sugar)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 cup chopped and toasted nuts
In a small bowl, combine the flours, baking powder, baking soda, stevia, cinnamon, ginger and salt. Set aside.
In a large bowl, cream together the butter and maple sugar. Add in the banana, apple butter and vanilla, using a whisk to create a smooth mixture (it will look a little curdled). Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in two batches and mix until well-combined – then stir in the chopped nuts.
Either put the batter into the refrigerator for a few hours to firm up (at which point you can roll the dough into balls and flatten to make nice, round cookies) or – preheat the oven to 350F, line 2 baking sheets with parchment and simply drop the dough by the tablespoonful onto the cookie sheets. Bake for 12-14 minutes or until firm and lightly browned on the bottoms.